Particular features of intensive foreign language teaching for students of non-philology specialties

Abstract

The article is about intensive teaching methods of foreign languages at non philological universities. Intensive teaching methods for the present in implementing a university curriculum for nonphilological specialties are very necessity. The authors wrote about intensive training and how with its help maximum efficiency can be achieved at the minimum possible time and with minimal effort. It is such training that creates the optimal conditions for the intensification and optimization of the educational process, especially at non philological universities.

Key words: intensive training, methods, universities, accelerated mastery

The purpose of this article is to show that successful teaching of foreign languages comes not only through teaching vocabulary and grammar but through realizing the language needs of the students, particularly students at non-philological institutions of higher learning, where the problem of motivation is acute.

Allocation of previously unsettled parts of the general problem.

Nowadays, on the way to European integration, the issue of accelerated teaching of foreign languages is emerging. This question is especially relevant in non- philological higher education institutions, where studying other languages is always secondary, the number of hours is limited, and the need for professional foreign language communication is urgently needed.

intensive study foreign language

Problem statement

Before, this concept was often associated with high-speed language learning, the main feature of which is learning only oral forms in the short term, and such point was mistaken, because the method of intensive study of a foreign language is based on the selective lexical material of a commonly used basic vocabulary. In the process of training, it is not necessary to immediately load the students of higher education with a large amount of lexical material, but gradually increase the volume of educational material with new words or phrases. One of the important points is that students do not require active participation. The mechanism of rapid learning of educational material is based on memorizing vocabulary at the level of visual cognition, with the process of learning being at the level of unknowing mental activity.

Analysis of recent research and publications.

The problem of intensive language learning, though, is not new and remains relevant, as it promotes the optimization in teaching of foreign languages. An analysis of the works of domestic and foreign researchers testifies to the number of theoretical and practical solutions to the problem.

In the field of Slavic science there were many specialists who were engaged in intensive teaching methods, such as N.F. Borysko, L.Sh. Gegechkori, O.O. Leontiev, V.V. Petrusinskiy, N.K. Sklyarenko, N.V. Smirnov, I.Yu. Shechter and others. O. Leontiev together with G.O. Kitygorodskoy became the leading specialists in intensive techniques. [8, p.302] Numerous studies and publications of supporters of intensive technology have shown that its proper use can achieve impressive results both from the point of view of studied materials and from the point of view of learning in time, because "intensive training is an organized learning for communication that takes place rapidly by mastering the subject and active development of personality". Through intensive training, maximum efficiency is reached in the minimum possible time and with minimal effort. [5, p.15] Main material

Anyone who seeks to bring his happy future closer and simultaneously save his or her time and effort is looking for intensive English classes on the Internet. The promise of learning the language from the beginning in the shortest possible time looks so tempting!

If you look at the problem soberly, putting aside advertising slogans and your own expectations, then you will have to admit that intensive training of a foreign language would take two - three months with that time entirely devoted exclusively to this study activity.

An intensive English course can be in a language university, maybe in the classes for foreign languages, or maybe in non-philological institutions of higher education.

Practical speaking knowledge in foreign languages by graduates of non-philological institutions of higher education can be considered as an urgent need and also a social order of the state. The execution of this order is possible only with the application of a teaching methodology that most meets the modern requirements of organizing the educational process. Extensive methods are, unfortunately, not able to provide students with practical knowledge of the studied language, as required by the current program. That is why intensive methods are always popular and discussed. [3, p.41-46]

It is well-known that human behavior in a particular situation can be predicted fairly accurately, if its attitude to this activity is known. Motivation is very important in learning languages - if the students get curious - they will be happy to learn the language and will be active enough in studying. This is a certain stereotype of behavior that manifests itself at the level of personality's initiative, the palette of its emotional activity, the level of involuntary attention and perception, etc., or another setting that has already developed as a result of previous experience of the functional level of the organism, which directs its further activity, creating the preconditions (readiness) of the person to act in a certain way. [7, p.55]

The nature of the expectations formed by students when they use one or another technology of learning a foreign language is certainly reflected in the results of educational activities.

This is especially important in non-philology institutions, where a foreign language is a "minor" subject. Often, students in these circumstances experience an unnecessary impression of the subject, due to the discrepancy between the achieved results and the expended effort. Factors leading to this discrepancy include irrational distribution of study hours for learning a foreign language, different levels of preparation of students in a foreign language class, lack of stable interest in learning a foreign language, insufficient planning of the professional profile of students. The low concentration of study hours during the first and second years does not contribute to the timely launch of the speech mechanism, impeding the development of basic speech skills.

In these in extreme conditions only intensive learning opens the way to the implementation of educational program goals. An intensive teaching method is one of the types of learning process optimization. The main purpose of intensive learning can be defined as mastering with certain success, according to commonly accepted criteria of the knowledge, skills and abilities of the subject, which is studied in a short period of time with minimal expenditure of educational time and teaching resources. The didactic process in this case involves activities that from the outset include a system of knowledge and ensure their application within the prescribed limits. [7, p.53-56]

The selection of material for intensive learning is realized while taking into account the principle of semantic value, which reflects the nature of the sub- jectconceptual attribution of this lexical unit, the principle of word-building ability, and stylistic differentiation.

"Intensive" has own unique, completely individual face. This is due to the particular organized material and the process of education, the complex of applied techniques (including - paramedical character - positive emotionogenic image of the teacher, creating a comfortable psychological climate, etc.). The relaxed atmosphere in the classroom creates favorable conditions for the formation of the psychological climate in the group, which, in turn, is very important for removing the language barrier.

People who go to intensive classroom studies have reason to expect that:

- they will master the knowledge that is individually and personally valuable, which has a private meaningful sense, - communication in a foreign language;

- the lessons will be productive, and successes will be obvious (learning models the process of the real life communication);

- the lesson will be intriguing, exciting, and will not cause fatigue (due to the use of special techniques that activate spontaneous perception and memorization of the material, appealing to the emotional sphere of the students' psyche);

-the psychological atmosphere will be comfort

able, since students should not be afraid of mistakes or an unfriendly reaction of others (the subconscious expectation of a psychological "comfort", "the setting of benevolence" is supported by a verbal setting, which eliminates psychological barriers;

- the success of the educational activities of the entire group will depend on the personal contribution of each member of the team. This "global" setting determines the motivational level of the student activity regulation and is meaningful. Intensive learning can be conditionally divided in three phases: the main types of educational activities in the first phase are oral speech, reading and writing. [6, p.3-10]

The purpose of the first stage is teaching oral communication in a role-playing game (with the superiority of dialogical speech), reading and writing skills. Oral education is carried out using specially selected texts. After reaching the level of minimum linguistic competence, students start reading general scientific texts in a foreign language, which are the basis for consolidating the typical forms of the original scientific specialized literature with the general scientific vocabulary source of replenishment vocabulary. At this stage, it is necessary to master the minimum level of knowledge for understanding the original literature, and the development of skills which provide a natural combination of reading techniques and content perception of the material.

In the first stage the teacher has to solve a number of radical didactic and methodological problems: to organize group interpersonal communication of students, to prepare them for the practical use of a foreign language in possible concrete situations of communication, to help them to master the skills and abilities of full speech behavior in a foreign language environment, based on the use of situations, role plays, dialogues and so on. It is necessary to try to reach the solution of communicative tasks by means of the foreign language or by self-compensation of insufficient foreign knowledge with the use of synonymy and a couple of linguistic means of expression.

At the second stage of study, the main types of educational speech activities are reading, annotation, and referencing.

The purpose of the second stage is to teach reading, annotation and referencing literature according the profile of an educational institution, and to teach students to solve oral communication problems (within the framework of social, special subjects). At the second stage, the educational activity is based on the development of an intensive course, which is tailored to the specifics of a higher educational institution, while incorporating the use of materials from newspapers and magazines.

The peculiarity of the second stage of study is that, along with the polylogue and dialogic speech, a monologue has appeared. The material for reading is original texts from the specialty, which are selected in such a way that they reflect the key problems of the specific branch. It is advisable to combine all the cycles of the second stage within a common subject.

The great importance for maintaining interest and creating additional incentives for the practical acquisition of a foreign language at this stage can be a closer relationship between a training group and specialized departments, involving students in the tasks related to the use of foreign-language literary sources in order to solve the problems of theoretical and practical value. For this purpose, it is advisable to involve specialists in specifying these tasks, such as the selection of educational materials and the establishment of necessary terminology.

In the third stage of learning, students are taught professional-oriented communication in the foreign language: the ability to make postings on specialties and on socio-political topics, using information obtained during reading and the ability of reading literature from the specialty. The student's respect for the future specialty generates, as a rule, the desire to communicate on professional topics. This must be supported, and thus the conditions for high language activity should be created at the classroom level. Only intensive learning, due to its psychological and pedagogical and methodological principles, the compressibility of the educational process, and the stimulation of speech activity, is able to create conditions for the support of a student's interest in learning a foreign language and realize progress in mastering a foreign language.

Lessons from the third stage are characterized by the fact that besides studying the main types of speech activity, they are aimed at mastering the practical operation with the text materials, which are read and devoted to work with schemes, instructions and patents, the creation of abstracts, reports and annotations. At this stage, apart from the texts in the specialty, individual reading has great importance.

To develop the skills of foreign language professionally -oriented speech activity, it is advisable to develop communication models for each particular specialty. The completion of the training can be organized and conducted in conjunction with the profile department using the business game from the last lesson. [4, p.85]

The business game is one of the most progressive forms of organizing the educational process. According to one definition, the business game is the reproduction of the activities of employees of a particular branch or specialty under conditional circumstances, aimed at solving certain problems in the presence of a specific situation and often with an information deficit. The business game is a special type of organization and management of educational and cognitive activity, which differs from traditional teaching methods by the following features:

l. High level of activation of students' thinking.

2. Full immersion of students in the educational process.

3.Obligatory interaction of students amongst themselves and with the leader.

1. An increased level of motivation, emotionality, and creativity.

2. Focus on the development of acquired professional (intellectual) skills and abilities in a very short time.

The subject matter of the business game is the simulation of learning under specific conditions and the dynamics of certain processes, modeling the reality of the processes of production and the structure of professional activities of specialists. [3, p.45]

In the business game the following psychological and pedagogical principles are realized:

1. The principle of simulated modeling of specific production conditions and game simulation of the content of the professional activity of specialists. In the business game the professional environment is recreated. The main criteria that characterize the activities of a specialist are the productive efficiency that provides the subject competence, and the social efficiency that is provided by social competence.

2. The principle of problem content of the educational game is in cognitive activity, conditions, goals, tasks.

3. The principle of dialogue and interaction of partners in the game as a necessary condition for solving educational tasks and developing cognitive activity. In a business game, each participant exchanges with other participants their knowledge through communication, interaction, collective decision making and information exchange. Participation in the dialogue involves speech activity which, in turn, is a condition for the formation of professional thinking.

4. The principle of the "two-plan" game teaching activity. The essence of this principle is that the "serious" activity on the development of the personality of the specialist is realized in a "non-serious" game format, which allows the student to be intellectually and emotionally "discharged" and reveal a creative initiative. Achieving goals through business games serves as a means of learning and development.

Thus, the business game is a specific activity, an imagined practice in conditions modified compared with the actual reality of the material conditions moreover, this practice is associated with the implementation of certain roles, the observance of which requires "two- plan" behavior. [1, p.911]

The objectives of a business game can be defined as follows:

1. Increasing the motivation and interest in learning activities in general and in the simulated reality aspects of the game in particular.

2. Acquiring decision-making skills and mastering the behavior strategy in simulated situations.

3. Positively influencing students' educational activity.

4. Changing the attitude of students towards simulated situations and those who are involved in them.

5. Changing students' self-esteem.

6. Changing the relationship between students and the teacher as a result of participation in the game.

A number of features distinguish the business game from traditional teaching methods. They are: system content, reproduction of the structure and functions of professional activity in the game form, preservation of natural conditions for the practical use of knowledge, and the implementation of educational and educational functions. Classes during intensive study are usually divided into speech and combined-speech. The content of the first is related to the perception of large volumes of texts, the implementation of exercises of creative nature, the use of problem situations and role-playing games. In the second case, the activities of the teacher and students are aimed at performing training exercises on the material of small volume texts and microsituations. Linguistic classes thus provide the development of speech skills, combining, systematizing and correcting knowledge of the language system against the background of continuous training and communication practices. [5, p.110]

The main features of intensive language learning are:

1. Preferably use it in short-term and propaedeutic courses.

2. Presence or creation of the language environment.

3. Class orientation for mastering a mainly oral form of communication.

4. Education, first of all, of speech skills, and not linguistic knowledge.

5. Minimization of phonetic and lexical-grammatical material, taking into account their use mainly in the oral communication.

6. Adjusting the nature of learning.

7. Strict control of students' language proficiency.

8. Application in the course of studying of both intensive and communicative courses.

9. Implementation of the achievements of intensive training in commonly accepted courses.

10. Further, continuous refinement of the forms and methods of intensive training based on class feedback and student success.

Intensive English is a process of virtually continuous learning in the short term. Of course, there are pluses and minuses to the intensive study of English. [2, p.185] Advantages:

- High speed of training (basically, this is a situation where you need quickly to get or improve your basic English skills for a foreign trip, interview in English, etc.);

- short terms for the development of spoken language (intensive English courses often use the communicative method: work in pairs or groups, dialogues, role plays, discussions);

- small breaks between the lessons (classes - about five per week, plus homework for the weekend; such a schedule does not allow you to relax and always maintain your focus);

- more comfortable overcoming the language barrier (since you train spoken language daily and do not waste time adjusting, it will be easier for you to express your thoughts). Disadvantages:

- requires a serious impact (not everybody can afford to devote five evenings a week to English, in addition to homework; it is a serious matter of time);

- it does not suit you if you master material through repetition and cramming (the intensive course is calculated, first of all, by the number of material and for that perspective, which eventually will turn into quality English for a short time);

- weak grammar training (grammar is the basis for learning and is necessary for oral speech or understanding of the printed text, but there is simply no time to explain the grammar rules);

- inaccurate knowledge (rapid rate often leaves some issues not fully explained);

- a huge stream of information (if you feel that intensive training exhausts you more than gives a positive result, go to a less intensive schedule: stress is not the best assistant in education).

Conclusions and suggestions

Consequently, the correct application of the right methods of intensive training of students in non-philo- logical higher education specialties allows them to achieve significant results with intensive methods, both in terms of the volume of assimilated material and in terms of training time. Intensive training allows students not only to master intensive methods, but also contributes to the effective development of the personality of future specialists, the formation of culture and communication skills as aspects of professional training. [9, p.53-56]

If you want to achieve meaningful results in English, then you will need to work a lot and diligently. Combine teaching methods, do it yourself, use cards in English - the main thing is to be systematic and study every day!

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